Landlords Discovers Baby Left Alone In Apartment

A landlord received the shock of her life when she entered what she believed was an abandoned property and found a baby left unattended. The baby cried, but otherwise appeared to be fine.

The landlord explained that she had tried to reach the tenant for nearly a month, and then discovered the woman was in jail. When the landlord and her son entered the unit, they found that it was messy and smelled foul, so they started to clean it up.

The landlord told reporters with First Coast News in Jacksonville, Florida that she had been in the apartment for nearly two hours, vacuuming and picking up trash, when she noticed the baby as it opened its eyes. Up until then she thought it was a doll.

Police brought the baby to a local hospital. The 16-month-old appeared to be well-cared for. As police were investigating, the tenant’s boyfriend returned to the property and admitted leaving the child alone, under a blanket in bed. The police are investigating whether the girl had been sedated. The child has since been reunited with her mother, who was released from jail. The landlord did not mention whether the boyfriend was a tenant or a guest.

But where does this leave the landlord? Is a fright like that grounds for an eviction?